


moon's awake now

by planetsdance



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Zookeeper!Au, aka wolf man and clumsy girl - the tv series, idk its 3 in the morning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2014-12-09
Packaged: 2018-02-28 19:01:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2743631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/planetsdance/pseuds/planetsdance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From the prompt "solas is the wolf expert at the zoo, and lavellan is the new trainee zookeeper. she’s incredibly interested in his JOB (and in him)". Or, the Zookeeper!Au.</p>
            </blockquote>





	moon's awake now

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Caitlyn over at biowaresucks on tumblr. I've been playing a lot of Inquistion lately and wanted to write something not incredibly sad for these two lovely characters. 
> 
> Also, since I have a habit of naming my work after dumb and ironic songs, the title of this is from She Wolf by Shakira.

Mae isn’t exactly having a _good_ day.

It’s her fifth shift working at the Haven zoo, a summer job that she’s starting to immensely regret. While scooping elephant droppings was a welcome distraction from her psychology major, it wasn’t really how she pictured spending her final summer before her last year of her degree. She enjoys the sun, however, and the animals, so she decides not to complain to her friend Cassandra, who’s an evening security guard in the North American Mammals pavilion.

Well, she’s only so strong.

“Cass, I have a very serious question for you which you must take very seriously,” Mae states as she enters the staff room, plopping into a chair with lemur print on it. Cassandra eyes her warily.

“You said the word serious one too many times in that sentence,” she sighs, lacing up her work boots. “But sure, go ahead.”

“If I throw myself into the lion pit later today, will you be the bestest friend ever and make sure no guards jump into save me?”

Mae’s not surprised by the incredibly large eye roll she gets from Cassandra. “Honestly, the job is not that bad. You’re just being incredibly dramatic. It’s unbecoming.”

“ _You’re_ unbecoming,” Mae mumbles, sinking further into chair. “Besides, we don’t even have the same job, so how you know?”

“I know that scooping up shit and feeding animals can’t be that hard. Besides, would you rather be in professor Leliana’s Co-Op right now?” Mae shudders at the thought. Leliana was probably currently interrogating some poor sophomore on the proper way to interrogate someone. It was never ending with that woman.

“Well, no,” Mae admits, “but working here isn’t exactly letting me meet any cute guys.”

Cassandra scoffs, sensing Mae’s sarcasm. “Please, as if you could ever be over your crush on professor Cullen.” She draws the word out slowly, smirking, and it makes Mae’s stomach drop.

“Hey, we don’t use the C word in this establishment, thanks so much.”

“If you say so. I’m late for my shift.”

“I’m going that way anyway, I’ll walk you.”

As they walk, the first closing announcement rings out throughout the park. Mae says goodbye to Cassandra at her station in the birds exhibit. and makes her way towards the only real place she enjoys at the zoo. The timber wolf habitat is fairly quiet, as the only people observing are a few scragglers making their way to the exit from the Australian aquatic pavilion. Mae goes through the side door, picking up a feeding bucket from the hooks on the wall as she passes. At first, the smell of the beef makes her nauseous, and she resists the urge to puke all over her new uniform. Whistling to call the wolves over, she tosses the beasts a slab of meat each, laughing as they run to her, stopping at the barrier.

“Jesus. Easy there wolfy, there’s plenty to go around.” She spots the youngest wolf in the corner of the exhibit, refusing to come to dinner. The wolf stares at her, it’s yellow eyes sparkling in the setting sun. She sighs and holds up the slab of meat.

“Meat is tasty. Don’t you want tasty?”

The wolf stares.

“Fine,” Mae huffs, lifting herself onto the ledge of the wall separating her from the wolves. “Make this as difficult as possible. I don’t mind.” Shifting herself so she’s in the direct line of the far wolf, she stands slowly until she feels comfortable enough to chuck the meat in the general direction of the wolf.

“I wouldn’t, If I were you.”

The intruding voice frankly scares _the shit out of her_ , breaking her concentration, and she loses her footing. She’s about to fall face first into the pit of feeding wolves when gentle hands grab her waist and hoists her back on the right side of the barrier.

“Jesus fucking christ,” Mae mumbles, heart beating fast and hands still clutching at -

A very, _very_ solid chest.

She jumps back, hand shooting down to the walky talky she has strapped to her buckle.

“I’m very sorry to have frightened you,” the man says, a tad sheepish, and Mae finally looks at him. He’s older then her, probably by at least ten years, and she has never seen a man more bald in her life. He’s dressed in camel coloured slacks and a dark brown button up that looks straight out of a thrift shop, but he’s sporting a special visitor badge, so she lowers her hand from her belt.

She has to admit, he’s incredibly handsome, if she was into the whole hot dad thing.

Which she very much is.

“It’s fine,” she says quickly, brushing her bangs back from her face to distract her from looking at his eyes any longer. “I just wasn't expecting anyone.”

The man offers his hand. “Solas. I’m the consulting wolf expert for the zoo.”

“Mae, brand new recruit.” They shake hands, “Is there a specific reason you’re in today?”

He gestures towards the far wolf, still staring in his corner. “We think Fen over there might be ill. I’ve come to treat him the best way I can.” Solas begins to roll up his sleeves, and Mae has to look away again.

“Is that why you didn’t want me throwing the meat at him?”

Solas shrugs. “That, and Mythal, that one.” he points at the aggressive wolf from earlier. “A few more moments of you holding that meat up and she would have jumped for it. May have taken your whole arm off.”

“Mythal. Good to know,” Mae mumbles.

“Actually, i’m glad you’re here. I could really use some help holding Fen down while I give him his medication.”

“I’m sorry, you want me to hold a grown, adult wolf down?” She gestures at her 5’6” body, amused. He laughs.

“It’s not too hard. Come, I’ll show you.” He hops over the barrier, and Mae makes a noise of panic in the back of her throat that is absurdly embarrassing. Solas turns, a singular eyebrow raised and a bemused expression on his face. Mae clears her throat.

“Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”

“I’ve been with these wolves since they were puppies, I can assure you we’ll be quite fine.” He offers her his outstretched hand. “Shall we?”

He quickly shows her how to hold the wolf down without hurting herself or the creature, and she stays silent while he works by the mouth of the wolf. “Looks like a chipped tooth. I’ll call the specialist tomorrow and have him come take a look.” Snapping off his gloves, he grins at Mae. “You did a fine job, Mae. You can let him go now.”

She releases Fen slowly, who darts into the cave at the top of the exhibit as soon as he can. “Thanks,” She smiles, dipping her head to hide her blush.

“Mae is a beautiful name. Is that short for anything?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Maenel. My parents were hippies.”

“Ah, I understand. I myself am in a similar situation.”

She nods understandably. “Is Solas short for something?”

“Unfortunately, no. The amount of people who have called me _salad_ is appalling” They laugh together, and she realizes this is the most fun she’s had at work since she’s started.

“I’d love to see you again,” She blurts out, almost immediately regretting it. Solas’s eyebrows raise, and she starts to stammer “I mean, I’m very interested in the wolves, and I’d like to learn more about helping and-”

“Mae,” He says gently, cutting her off. “I’d like that very much.”

\--

He walks her to her car after she changes out of her uniform and he calls the tooth specialist. She enters his number into her phone as “Wolf man” and he chuckles low in his throat. As she drives away from the zoo, his wave fading into the distance, she finds herself actually looking forward to work tomorrow. She hasn’t felt this good in a very, very long time.


End file.
